Storms in southern Missouri cause outages, minor damage

NEW MADRID — Residents were cleaning up Monday in parts of southern Missouri after violent weather swept across the region, cutting power in scattered communities and causing minor damage.

Powerful thunderstorms hit the Springfield area about 9:30 a.m. Monday with winds estimated at nearly 70 mph. City Utilities in Springfield said about 8,000 customers lost power at one point. Most had electricity restored by late afternoon.

Winds knocked over a half-dozen trees at a campground in Cedar County, including one that fell on a tent and a vehicle. No injuries were reported.

In southeastern Missouri, officials reported scattered damage to roofs and trees in the Bootheel as the storms hit Monday afternoon. A section of Interstate 55 near New Madrid was closed in both directions for a short time because of downed power lines.